On Thursday, the U.S House of Representatives passed a new bill aimed at expanding healthcare services to U.S military members, veterans and civilians who were exposed to toxic substances from “burn pits”. The bill’s passage came two days after President Joe Biden called on Congress to take action on the subject during his first State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The bill, called the Honoring Our PACT Act, was passed with the support of major veterans groups and after lobbying by comedian Jon Stewart, who has long been an advocate for improved care for veterans. After the bill was passed, a number of these groups hailed the bill as a victory on a goal they have fought many years to come to fruition.

“Just as the military pledges to leave no soldier behind on the battlefield, we must leave no veteran behind when they return home. The Honoring Our PACT Act finally, faithfully fulfills that pledge,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote on Twitter after the bill passed.

Under the bill, millions of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service would be eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, even if they don’t have a service-connected disability. It would also add or increase disability benefits to thousands of veterans who became ill with cancer or respiratory conditions from exposure to toxic substances.

A burn pit is used routinely by the U.S military to dispose of tires, batteries, medical waste and other materials. Some studies have suggested there is insufficient evidence to determine whether exposure to burn pit emissions is linked to adverse respiratory conditions such as asthma or lung cancer, but they do not rule out an association.

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Biden voiced aloud his suspicion that his deceased eldest son Beau Biden, an officer in the Army National Guard, may have developed the brain cancer that took his life from exposure to burn pit toxins. Biden used this anecdote to urge lawmakers to move forward with passing legislation that would improve how the government takes care of veterans exposed to burn pits.

I don’t know for sure if the burn pit that he lived near...is the cause of his brain cancer and the disease of so many other troops. But I’m committed to find out everything we can," Biden said in his speech.

Despite the bipartisan applause to this line, the bill passed largely along party lines with a vote of 256-174 with 34 Republicans joining all House Democrats in voting for it.

The Republicans who opposed the bill cited its cost and what they said was their lack of input in the final bill as the reason behind their No vote.

In a speech, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) said that the Democrats ignored suggestions from the Republican side when crafting the bill and proposed instead that the VA improve its screening processes to better improve its process for distributing health benefits. The current approach, she said, was too bureaucratic and too expensive to help.

“We are not doing right by our veterans by being fiscally irresponsible in their name. And I say that as a veteran myself,” said Rep. Miller-Meeks, who herself is an Army veteran.

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